As far as old school fighting games from the 90’s and early 00’s are concerned there are so many titles that instantly comes to mind. Retro gamers often remember titles such as the Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Killer Instinct and King of Fighters series from back in the day. Despite, how popular each of those franchises were there were games such as the Bloody Roar series which began back in back in 1997 on the Sony PlayStation which are considered to be highly underrated especially since they were overshadowed during the 90’s-early 00’s. In fact, the Bloody Roar series definitely had strong fan base especially since it was quite unique in relation to gameplay such as the “Beast Mode” mechanic and eventually “Beast Drive” in Blood Roar 2 which was released back in ’99. As far as the overall appeal of the series is concerned many would argue that Bloody Roar 2 was arguably the last strong entry despite there being three more games that came afterwards between 2000-2003. The latest entry in the set known as Bloody Roar 4 came out about sixteen years ago and since then there has been no indication of the possibility of a new game especially since Hudson Soft became defunct back in 2012.

While video game developer Eighting has worked on just about every Bloody Roar title within the series Konami was the publisher for Bloody Roar 4 which appeared on the PlayStation 2 between late 2003-early 2004. Even though, Konami is still a major publisher within the gaming industry today its unlikely that they have any plans on bringing back the Bloody Roar series. Bloody Roar 4 was nowhere near as popular as the first two games that came out between ’97-’99. In fact, some would argue with the notion that a new Bloody Roar game is not necessary but the idea of having HD releases if each title within the series would be something that would definitely turn heads within the gaming world. Despite, the fact that the fighting genre of gaming is not quite as popular today as it was during the 90’s a new project or release involving the Bloody Roar series could definitely be somewhat of an attraction anytime from 2020 onwards. But as it currently stands the idea of a new Bloody Roar game is one that seems unlikely to happen anytime in the near future.

As far as memorable games from the 90’s are concerned in relation to violence and mayhem one of the few titles that the world got to see during that decade was Twisted Metal. For those who do not know Twisted Metal was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and initially released back in November 1995 for the PS1. In countries such as America Twisted Metal was very popular among teens and young adults for its addictive gameplay involving vehicular combat where players have to struggle to stay alive in the streets of Los Angles. The plot for the game takes place in 2005 and centers around competition held by Calypso where participants go through various levels and try to destroy each other in order to stay alive. The concept of the Twisted Metal competition was very creative but some people have criticized the game on the past for having a weak single-player mode. Despite, some of the game’s drawbacks there were more positives than negatives in the first Twisted Metal game such as the arsenal of weapons players were provided. In the games players had the ability to carry over 20 different weapons giving players numerous options on how to destroy their enemies.

Also, the co-op story mode was interesting as well since players had to share six lives which really forced people to strategize as the difficulty of the game increased during progression. The idea of sharing lives during co-op gameplay can be seen as a negative in the eyes of some people since it was somewhat similar to the NES Battetoads game where two players had to share lives in a game that can be difficult. Various stages in game where the competition took place included skyscrapers, freeways, warehouses and even the suburbs which made Twisted Metal even more interesting. The graphics for Twisted Metal were pretty decent by mid 90’s standards especially since 3D gaming was still considered to be new during that time period. The original Twisted Metal game ended up spawning two successful sequels between ’96-’98 which both sold over one million copies worldwide on the PS1. As a vehicular combat game Twisted Metal was one of the most innovative titles the gaming world has seen and its a title that is still somewhat popular to this day. The latest entry that we got to see in the Twisted Metal series was back in 2012 and for the most part fans and critics were fond of that game. Hopefully, sometime in the future we will get a chance to see another Twisted Metal title for a current generation console such as the PlayStation 4 or even the upcoming PS5 game system.

As far as high profile video games for the Nintendo Wii is concerned we saw a lot of big titles released for that console between 2006-2012. We got to see the release of games as Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros Brawl, The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess along with the first Super Mario Galaxy game. As far as the first Super Mario Galaxy game is concerned it was one that was very successful on the Wii console following its initial release back in 2007. Since its release Super Mario Galaxy had managed to reach over 12 million copies worldwide and ended becoming the ninth best selling video game on that console. A few years later we got to see the release of Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii console in 2010. Super Mario Galaxy 2 was a huge success as well and managed to reach over 7.4 million copies in worldwide sales since its release. While Super Mario Galaxy 2 did not sell as much as its predecessor many people would argue that the game could have possibly stood out more if it were released as a Wii-U exclusive.

Even though, the Wii-U console was not released until late 2012 if Nintendo had saved Super Mario Galaxy 2 for that console its possible that it could have sold more in the long run. In fact, the Wii-U in general could have sold more than it did if Super Mario Galaxy 2 was saved for that console seeing how much it sold for the original Wii system. The best selling game for the Wii-U was Mario Kart 8 which reached over 8.4 million copies in sales. The second best video game in relation to sales was Super Mario 3D World which reached over 5.8 million copies following its release in 2013. There is no doubt that Super Mario Galaxy 2 could have definitely been a bigger attraction on the Wii-U console between the 2013-2014 time period than it was 2010. Despite, the expensive price of the Wii-U console along with its accessories Super Mario Galaxy 2 could have still ended up becoming one of the top selling titles for that console during the early to mid 10’s.

As far as big action-adventure titles from the 00’s are concerned many people might remember when the Saints Row series first began back in 2006. The first Saints Row title was developed by Volition and published by THQ and was a game that was considered to be an attraction on the Xbox 360 mainly because of its similarities to the Grand Theft Auto series. The gameplay for Saints Row is similar to that of GTA in the sense that players got to freely wonder in open world environments while engaging in various missions throughout the game itself. Also, the customization feature included in Saints Row was definitely appealing considering the fact that players had the option of choosing their own ethnicity & fitness which was something that was not really included in gang related action-adventure titles such as GTA III & GTA: Vice City. The plot for Saints Row is rather interesting especially since the plot of the game takes over place the same year the game was released which is 2006. The setting takes place in a city known as Stilwater controlled by three different criminal syndicates: Carnales, Westside Rollerz and the Vice Kings. In this game players go from passing the initiation process in relation to being apart of the 3rd Street Saints to being named the chief lieutenant of the group while helping them take control of Stilwater.

Since its initial release the original Saints Row game has been praised by fans and critics alike and managed to sell at least two million copies worldwide since its release. Saints Row has also seen a series of sequels since ’06 such as Saints Row 2 (2008), Saints Row: The Third (2011), Saints Row IV (2013) and the most recent installment Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell from 2015. While the original SaintsRow game was fun there are many who would argue that Saints Row 2 from ’08 was even better and arguably the most popular title within the series thus far. As it currently stands many people are still waiting for a direct sequel to Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell. However, there has been no big announcements from Deep Silver lately in regards to another Saints Row game. While the original Saints Row game is a classic to many retro gamers some would argue that its one of the few action-adventure from the 00’s that deserves HD remake along with its successor Saint Row 2.

As far as classic first person shooter games are concerned in relation to the 2000’s one of the most pop games that we saw on the Nintendo 64 was a title known as Perfect Dark. For those who do not know Perfect Dark was developed by Rare and published by Nintendo and was initially released for the N64 during the Spring of 2000. Perfect Dark was a game that had an interesting plot that was set in early 2020’s and involved players controlling the main protagonist Joanna Dark as she attempts thwart a conspiracy by a rival corporation known as dataDyne. One of the cool things about the storyline for Perfect Dark is the fact that it takes place in the midst of interstellar warfare between two different races known as the Skedars and the Maians. Also, as players progress throughout the game they eventually see unexpected twists and revelations regarding the story. Players eventually see Daniel Carrington get captured by dataDyne and learn about the corporation’s plans about capturing the United States President in hopes of accessing the Pelagic II. The depth of the story for Perfect Dark was something that many people liked in addition to the gameplay which was similar to that of GoldenEye 007 which was released for the N64 in 1997.

In addition to having a captivating storyline, nice graphics and gameplay that was on par with 007 Perfect Dark also had three multiplayer game modes that could allow up to four players which added to the game’s overall replay value. As far as sales is concerned Perfect Dark managed to reach at least 2.5 million copies and was considered to be one of the best first- person shooter games of the early 00’s. Despite, not being nearly as successful as GoldenEye 007 many would argue that Perfect Dark was a game that felt like it was ahead of its time. Perfect Dark was released right before the first person shooter genre of gaming started to very popular. Since its initial release in 2000 Perfect Dark was remastered and re-released back in 2010 and since then people have wondered whether or not there would be a direct sequel to the game as well.

As far as arcade classics are concerned in relation to the late 90’s-early 00’s Tekken Tag Tournament is a game that instantly comes to mind. Those who are retro gamers are probably well aware of how popular The Tekken series was in the 90’s especially following the arcade release of Tekken 3 back in Spring 1997. Tekken 3 ended up becoming the fourth best selling game for the PS1 following after it was ported for that console in ’98. There were fans who wondered whether or not Namco could possibly top Tekken 3 in relation to gameplay during the time and we eventually ended up getting Tekken Tag Tournament. Tekken Tag Tournament was initially released in Japanese arcade centers during the Summer of 1999 before it was ported for the PlayStation 2 in the year 2000. In a sense Tekken Tag Tournament did top Tekken 3 in relation gameplay especially since it was one of the first major 3D tag-team fighting games ever.

Tekken Tag Tournamentwas a title that could compete with the likes of Marvel vs Capcom 1 & 2 which were both games released between 1999-2000. Depending on who you ask Tekken Tag Tournament was arguably the best fighting game to have been released in the year 2000 next to Marvel vs Capcom 2. Despite, Tekken Tag Tournament not being nearly as popular as its successor Tekken Tag Tournament 2 from 2011 its still a game that many people still consider to be legendary to this day. Tekken Tag Tournament featured popular characters from the first three installments of the series such as Jim Kazama, Michelle Chang, Paul Phenoix, Eddy Gordo, Heihachi Mishima, Nina Williams and many others making Am the title w huge attraction at the time. We have only seen two installments of Tekken Tag Tournament within the past twenty years and hopefully there will be a Tekken Tag Tournament 3 sometime in the future.

As far as big news is concerned in relation to the gaming world it has just been discovered that the Nintendo Switch’s online service has been doing much better than people could have expected. For those who do not know the online subscription service for the Nintendo Switch began back in September 2018 and has already reached over ten million subscribers despite only being active for less than a year now. As it currently stands players would receive a great deal if they decided to purchase a 12 month membership for Nintendo Switch Online since its only priced for $19.99 plus tax at electronic retailers such as Best Buy. For consoles such as The PlayStation 4 people would have to purchase a 12 month membership for $59.99 and its that has seeming remained constant since late 2013-early 2014 when the game system was first released.

In fact, the family subscription is more affordable than Sony’s 12 month plan which is priced at $59.99. For players who decide to purchase the 12 month family plan its only $34.99. The option get the 1 or 3 month plan for the Nintendo Switch Online ranges between $1.99-$3.99 which are both great deals. In the eyes of some people it’s not to hard to see why the Nintendo Switch has over 10 million subscribers in less than a year. There no question that the number of active subscribers will only increase and possibly double by September 2020.